


The Gift of Second Chances

by vesaldi



Category: Final Fantasy VIII
Genre: Gen, sorry kids this is not Rinoa/Seifer
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-31
Updated: 2019-01-31
Packaged: 2019-10-20 01:40:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 623
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17613011
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vesaldi/pseuds/vesaldi
Summary: What's a guy to do when he tried to help the Sorceress destroy the world? Sulk in Balamb, of course. But Rinoa has no intention of putting up with such nonsense.





	The Gift of Second Chances

Seifer sat at the end of the pier, fishing pole in hand. For once, Fujin and Raijin had opted not to join him, likely due to his unusually dour mood. The fact that he still couldn't manage to catch a single fish wasn't helping.

_Maybe I should just give up_ , he thought to himself as he watched the bobber float motionless on the water below him. Of all the hobbies to pick up, why had he chosen fishing? With an irritated sigh, Seifer reeled in his line and pushed himself to his feet, ready to call it a day. He hesitated as his eyes fell on a familiar figure standing at the other end of the pier.

"Rinoa?" Seifer asked in surprised as she began to walk toward him.

"Seifer the Fisherman," Rinoa commented with a smirk. "Now _that's_ something I never would have expected to see in a million years."

"I needed something to do," he told her with a shrug. "Life's gotten awfully boring since... you know."

"It'd be less boring if you'd just come back to Garden," Rinoa reminded him, hands on her hips.

Seifer snorted a laugh. "Right, as if anyone would let me anywhere _near_ Garden."

"Do you really think I'd be here telling you to come back if you weren't even allowed inside?" Rinoa asked him with a pout.

Seifer sighed. "Look, Rinoa, I appreciate what you're trying to do, but-"

"No buts," Rinoa interrupted. "You owe us."

“I owe you…?”

“Yep,” Rinoa nodded. “Garden is low on SeeDs after everything that happened, and we need your help to rebuild.”

“I’m not a SeeD,” Seifer reminded her with a grumpy frown.

“Not yet,” Rinoa replied with a smirk, taking him by the sleeve and dragging him inland.

"H-hey, wait," he protested, shaking himself loose from her grip.

Rinoa sighed. "You can't just hide from your problems.”

"I _created_ my problems," Seifer reminded her. "Besides, nobody at Garden would want me there."

"I want you there."

"But _why?_ " Seifer asked in frustration. "I helped a sorceress try to _kill_ you."

Rinoa took a deep breath and crossed her arms. "Everything about what happened was complicated, Seifer," she began. "But we're all just kids. She manipulated you."

"That's not an excuse."

"No, but it's important context," Rinoa explained. "You made bad decisions, but you didn't make them on your own." She paused for a moment. "You deserve a second chance, Seifer."

"I think I'm a few chances past my second," Seifer chuckled.

"Fine, then you deserve a third chance."

"More like fourth," Seifer corrected. "Or maybe fifth...?"

"Seifer!" Rinoa exclaimed, then sighed in frustrated. " _Another_ chance, how's that?"

He crossed his arms. "I still don't understand why you feel so strongly about this."

"Do you remember when you introduced me to Headmaster Cid at the SeeD ball?" Rinoa asked, prompting a nod of confirmation from Seifer. "That's why. Deep down, underneath all the doubt and the bluster, you're a good person."

"Good people don't do what I did."

"You need to let it go, Seifer," Rinoa told him. "No one else can forgive you if you can't even forgive yourself."

He frowned. "I... don't know how."

"That's why I'm going to help!" Rinoa announced, her characteristic smile returning to her face. "Come on."

With a loud sigh, Seifer finally gave in and followed her as she walked back toward the town. "So Squall knows about this, right?"

"Don't worry about it," Rinoa replied evasively.

Seifer's eyes widened. "Wait, he doesn't know?"

"Don't worry!" Rinoa repeated, smiling and picking up her pace.

"Now wait just a second," Seifer protested through her giggles. "Rinoa...!"

"It'll be fine!" she assured him, motioning toward the town entrance. "Come on, Seifer. Let's go home."


End file.
